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Live A Live is a remake of a game from 1994 with the same name. It’s a JRPG with seven different heroes and stories that can be played in any order and are easy to swap between them. The gameplay is varied and some characters will be more action oriented than others where the combat is turn-based in grid-like areas. The game received a great visual upgrade and looks much similar to Octopath Traveler in it’s HD-2D style.

2023 is really establishing itself as the year of the remake games. Live a Live is back after 29 years, since the original game dates back to 1994, a good oldschool JRPG as they like so much. Quite an original concept, as you travel through 7 different lands:
Prehistory, Far West, Present, End of Edo Japan, Imperial China, Near Future, Far Future.

Once all these universes have been traversed, 2 sequences are unlocked, and allow a link to be established between all these tales. Some eras are more action oriented, others are more narrative. In all cases, the environments change, as do some of the mechanics. Originality and richness are thus combined with a real variety in the gameplay.

This is a remake, but some aspects of the game would have deserved to be reworked a bit more, for example the turn-based battles (without action points), which are tactically oriented, playing on time instead. The lack of AP often encourages the player to use the same attacks/skills, which is a shame. But I’m just kidding: the fights are still excellent, with a catchy soundtrack, and they make us rack our brains. So they don’t detract from the game experience.

A JRPG quite characteristic in its approach to combat and the variety of its chapters, which benefits from a high quality remake in my opinion. I highly recommend it!

Finally available on the major platform after almost 9 months available on Switch, but also after almost 20 years being locked on the original SNES from 1994 and exclusively in Japan, the unexpected announcement and global release of Live a Live’s Square Enix has definitely pleased many.

Completely remade in the style of the most recent and highly appreciated Octopath Traveler, Live a Live has thus received an impressive graphic overhaul form the modest visuals of the original title, a title which was never regarded for its visual but for it’s story. Mostly untouched, the story of Live a Live is divided into 7 major chapters, each featuring a diverse cast of characters set in diverse time period all with their own unique story, we’ll always start with a single character and depending on the chapter we could gather allies along the way with up to a party of 4, but there are a few cases where the party is limited to just 2 or even a single protagonist, as is the case of the solo fighter Masaru Takahara.

Each character will also have a different approach regarding both the combat and both exploration, often reflecting their own personalities through their moves and specialties. Gameplay will happen on a grid based terrain in the classic jrpg stlyle of turn based combat. Positioning is pretty important not only to attack the enemies, but also forecasting the enemy moves and trying to keep the party alive by avoiding enemy attacks as much as possible.

There’s plenty of unique bosses and enemies reflecting the time period, on top of other secret and hidden bosses that could also lead, along with the various choices we make in each chapter (especially those in boss fights), to a different outcome with 5 unique endings. The game is also accompanied by a remake of the original soundtrack rearranged by the same compositor, Yoko Shimomura a well regarded compositor known mostly for her works in the Kingdom Hearts series and the Mario & Luigi games.

A definitely welcomed addition to the modern but with old formula and style of games that the same Square Enix has introduced with Octopath Traveler, with heavy focus on the story, interesting and charming at times, with a robust and challenging gameplay although a bit grindy in the late game. Price is typical of SE, but with a good price on keyshops and a demo to boot, there’s a good way to find out if it’s up to your alley and if so get it at the right price.

Live A Live has a lot of similarities to games like Saga Frontier and Octopath Traveler. Each character was developed by a different artist and each one’s narrative plays out extremly differently. There are challeging time constraints, riddles to complete and several chapter endings. You can finish each story in a few hours. Highly Recommend if you like JRPG’s.